1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Center for Manufacturing, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506, KY, USA2Manufacturing Systems Research Lab, General Motors Research and Development Center, General Motors Corporation, Warren 48090-9055, MI, USA

Abstract

The flexible manufacturing system (FMS) has attracted substantial amount of research
effort during the last twenty years. Most of the studies address the issues of
flexibility, productivity, cost, and so forth. The impact of flexible lines on product quality is
less studied. This paper intends to address this issue by applying a Markov model to
evaluate quality performance of a flexible manufacturing system. Closed expressions to
calculate good part probability are derived and discussions to maintain high product
quality are carried out. An example of flexible fixture in machining system is provided
to illustrate the applicability of the method. The results of this study suggest a possible approach
to investigate the impact of flexibility on product quality and, finally, with extensions and enrichment
of the model, may lead to provide production engineers and managers a better understanding of
the quality implications and to summarize some general guidelines of operation management in
flexible manufacturing systems.